Rail-anchor



J. Nl. FAIR.

RAIL ANCHOR. APPucATloN HLED 11116.19, 1920.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1. M. F y

AIL ANC N FILED'A APPL! Fig/'.4-

@www JAMES Mmm u UNITED STATES PATENT oEl-l'cE.

JAMES M. FAIR, 0F NARBERTH, PENNSYLVANIA.

y RAIL-ANGHR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

Application led August 19, 1920. Serial No. 404,605.

4 tionary parts of the road bed to prevent longitudinal displacement orcreeping of the rails over the supports therefor.

The object of the invention is to provide a novel, simple and efficientanchor formed of a single piece of metal which may be readily applied toa railroad rail and which will be held in operative position thereon bythe tendency` of the anchor to resume a conf` dition from which it` wassprung when applied to the rail, and vwhich will eectually grip the railand coperate with a stationary part of the road bed to prevent the railfrom creeping when in service.

vWith the above and related objects in view, the invention consists inthe novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention,

anchor and a part 4of the rail base, on line Figure 1 is a. plan view ofa portion of a railroad rail, a cross tie supporting the same and a railanchor applied to the rail, showing one form of embodiment of myinvention.

. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section, on line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4: isa sectional detail through the rail 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view showing one position of the rail anchor relatively tothe rail while it is being applied thereto.

Referring to the drawings, 2 designates a railroad rail and 5 anunderlying cross-tie forming a stationary part of the road bed1 and'suporting the rail 2 and over which the rail ten s to creep forwardly or inthe'dlrection of the arrow .in Fig. l under the well known conditions.

My improved rail anchor 6 is applied to the base 7. of the rail 2 and itis formed of a single piece or bar of steel or'other suitable metal,preferably rectangular in crosssec t1on, and bent into the form shown inthe drawings.

The'anchor 6 thus formed andv applied to the rail Qcomprises a straightor substantially stralght bar 8 engaging the bottom of the ra1l base 7and extending transversely beneath the same in parallel relationthereto, an arm 9 extending upwardly from one end of thebar 8 andinwardly over one side of the ra1l base 7, and a projection 10 on theother. end of the bar 8 and extending upwardly therefrom a slightdistance above the bottom vof the rail base.'

The fr ee end portion of the arm 9 is engaged with the top of the railbase '7 inwardly from the edge thereof, and the remaining portion of thearm 9 is out of engagement and preferably out of contact .with the' topof the rail base, asv Clearly shown in Fig. 3. y l

In the normal condition of the anchor 6, before belng applied to therail 2, the distance between the top of the bar 8 and the i, bottom ofthat part of the arm 9 which is engaged with the top of the rail base 7is less than that shown in Fig.`3 or less than the thickness of thatpart of the rail base 7 which is between them, and the bar 8 and arm 9are sprung apart when the anchor is applied to the rail so that theanchor in tending to resume its normal condition presses the top of thebar 8 up against the bottom of the rail base7 and the bottom of the arm9 down upon the top of the rail base by the resilient action of themetal forming the anchor, and thereby causes the lanchor 6 to firmlygrip one side of the rail ase.

The accidental displacement of the anchor 6 in a direction which wouldmove the arm 9 outwardlyfrom its gripping position and thereby loosenthe same is prevented by the projection 10 which rests adjacent to theopposite edge of the rail base 7 and is adapted to engage the same forthat purpose.

In applying the 'anchor 6 to the rail 2, the anchor is first placed inthe position relatively to the rail as shown in Fig. 5. In thisposition, the extreme free end of the armv9 is engaged with the top ofthe rail base 7, at 11, the top of the bar 8 is engaged with the bottomof the rail base 7, at 12, and the top of the projection 1Q is engagedwith the bottom of the rail base 7, at 13. After the anchor 6 is thusplaced, it is driven on to the rail i2y in the direction of the arrowin" Fig. 5,.V As the anchor is thus driven on to the rail, the free endportion of the arm 9 and the bar 8 are sprung apart d ue to the1horizontal bottom face of the rail base l and the upwardly inclined faceof the side thereof engaged b the arm 9. As the anchor is driven in t edirectionof the arrow,

the pressure at the points 11, 12 and 13 of the arm 9,' bar -8 andprojection 10 increases until just before the inner face of theprojection 10 comes into registry with the edge of the adjacent side ofthe rail base, so that when such registry occurs theresiliency of themetal forming the anchor will cause the full length o f,the bar 8beneath the rail` fbase 7 to be snapped up into engagement therewith andinto parallel relation with the bottom thereof, as the anchor reachesits final position, as shown in Fig. 3. Therefore, it will be understoodthat, afterv the anchor reaches its final position, the projection 10,engaging the adjacent edge'of the rail base, will effectually preventaccidental dispacement of the anchor from the rail because it will benecessary to spring the arm 9 and bar 8 apart in order to lower the topof the projection 10 into the p lane of the bottom of the rail base 7which is necessary for theV removal of the anchor fromthe rail.

Should'it be desired to remove the an-v chor 6 from the rail 2, the samemay be done by ydriving the projection 10 and the adjacent end of thebar 8 downwardly, and dr iv ing the lentire anchor in a reversedirection' to that described for applying it to the rail.

After the .projection 10 moves up to the position shown in.Fig, 3, afterapplying the anchor to the rail, as above described, the distancebetween the top of the bar 8 andV the free end portion of the arni 9 isgreater than in the normal condition of the anchor before being appliedto the -rail, so that, as theanchor tends to resume its normalcondition, yits resilient action presses lthe bar '8 firmly 4up againstthe' bottom of the rail base 7 and the f ree end portion of the arm 9firmly down upon the top of the rail base 7 and firmly grips the railbase between them.

The anchor 6 is driven on to the rail 2 adjacent to a cross-tie 5, asshown in Figs. l, 2 and 3, and, thereafter, as the rail 2 tends to creepforwardly or in the direction of the arrow in Fig.,1,.the bar- 8 willengage the Across-tie 5 and prevent the cree ing of the rail, due to thegrip of the anc or 6 upon the rail base 7. As the`rail`2 tends to creep,

it presses the bar 8 against the cross-tie- 5A and thereby tends to tiltthe anchor in-a manner to f'throw the bar 8 thereof rear- (l0 wardly andthe arm 9 thereof forwardly.' This action tends to force tlie'arm 9.\down wardly into l firmer gripping engagement with the top of therail-4 base 7, and to force the-bar 8 upwardly into firmer grippingengagement with the,bottom of the rail base,

,in proportion to the s and having its free end Leganes sothat the'gripping engagement of the anchor with the rail will be increased byand pressure of thel` forces tending to cause the rail'to creep.V

VThe metal bar forming the anchor 6 is bent, as clearly shown in Figs. land `2, to

deflect the arm 9 laterally of the bar 8 from a position directly abovethe same and in la l v direction reversely to that indicated by thearrow in Fig. 1

in which the rail tends to creep. The

purpose of this is to'bring the ,lower forward edge 14 of the arm 9closer,-

to a position directly above the upper rea-r-A ward edge l5 of the bar8. As the tendency of the anchor to tilt, under the tendency of the railto creep, as just described, tends to obliterategthe gripping action ofthe anchor upon the rail at the corners 16 and 17 of the arm 9 and bar8, respectively, and tends to increase `the gripping action at thecorners 14 and l5, I obtain vgreater leverage and more efficient actionby deflecting the arm 9, as above described, than would be obtained ifthe arm 9 were not deflected and the corners 14 and ,16 ofthe arm 9 weredirectly over the corners 17 and 15, respectively, of the bar 8.

While the top of the bar 8 is engaged with lthe bottom of the rail base7 throughout the width f the rail base, the greatest pressure of theliaragainsbthe bottom of the rail base o urs at that portion of the bar 8which is engaged with the rail base 7 directly beneath the free endportion of the arm 9 which is engaged with the top of the rail base, orthat portion of the bar 8 which engages the rail base withV the arm 9 ina vertical .plane which extends parallel to the longitudinal center ofthe rail 2 and which is indicated by the line 4-4 hereinbefore referredto.

I claim as my invention l. The combination with a railroad rail, of `arail anchor comprising a substantially straight bar engaging the bottomofthe rail base and extending transversely beneath the same in parallelrelation thereto, an arm extending upwardly from one 'lend of the barand inwardly over one side of the rail base portion engaged with the topof the rail base and the remaining portion thereof out of engagementwith the top of the rail base, other end of the bar extending above thebottom of the rail base adjacent to and adapted to engage the edge ofthe other side of they rail base, said anchor in tending to resume acondition from which it was sprung bottom of the rail 'a downwardpressure against the top of the rail base.

2.- The combination with a railroad rail, of a rail anchor comprising abar extending and a projection on the base, and said arm to exerttransversely beneath the rail base and engaging the bottom thereofi anarm extending upwardly from one end of the bar and inwardly over oneside of the rail base and engaging the `top thereof, and a projection onthe other end of the bar extending above the bottom of the rail baseadjacent to and adapted to engage the edge of the other side of the railbase, said bar and said armengaging the bottom and the top of the railbase, respectively, at points in a vertical plane which extends parallelto the longitudinal center of the rail and being pressed into engagementtherewith by said anchor in teiiding to resume a condition from whicharm, said bar and said arm being pressed into engagement with the railbase bylsaid anchor in tending to resume a condition from which it wassprung when it was applied to rthe rail andthe downward pressure of saidarm againstthe top of the rail base being resisted wholly by the upwardpresrsure of said bar against the bottom of the` rail base.

4. The combination with'a railroad rail,

.of a rail anchor formed of a single pieceof metal ofvsubstantiallyuniform cross-section throughout its length and comprising a barextending transversely beneath the rail base and engaging the bottomthereof, an arm extending upwardly from one end of the bar and inwardlyover one side of the rail base and engaging the top thereof, and aprojection adapted to engage the other side of the rail base to preventoutward displacement of said arm, said bar and said arm being pressedinto engagement with the rail base b said anchor in tending to resume acondition from which it was sprung when it was applied to the rail andthe downward pressure of said arm against the top of the rail base beingresisted wholly by the upward pressure of said bar against the bottom ofthe rail base, and said arm being deflected laterally of the bar from aposition above the same in a direction reversely to that in which therail tends to creep.

5. The combination with a railroad rail, of a rail anchor formed of asingle piece of metal of substantially uniform cross-section throughoutits length'and comprislng a bar extending transversely beneath the railbase and engaging the bottom thereof, an arm extending upwardly from oneend of the bar and inwardly over one side of the rail base and havingits free end-portion engaged with the top 'of the rail base and theremaining i portion thereof out of engagement with the top of the railbase, and a projection adapted to engage the other side of they railbase to prevent outward displacement of said arm, said bar an said armengaging the bottom and the top f the rail base, respectively, at pointsin a vertical plane which extends parallel to the longitudinal center oftherail.

and being pressed into engagement therewith by said anchor in tending toresume a condition from which it was sprung when it was applied to therail, and said arm being deiected laterally of the bar from a positionabove the same in a direction reversely to that in which therail tendsto creep.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature hereto. 'f

JAMES M. Fara

